A delay element is used to realize the function of delay of traditional electric detonators, which results in not only low precision but also unchangeable delay time. In addition, since the delay element contains delay composition and heavy metal such as lead, the use of traditional electric detonators can lead to dispersion of the heavy metal and the burning of the delay composition, both causing environment pollution.
Further, public safety problems may arise from the traditional electric detonator. On the one hand, the process of detonation of a traditional electric detonator is uncontrollable because the detonation process starts immediately once the detonator is powered, and the process is irreversible and can not be interrupted or stopped in case of emergency. On the other hand, since the ignition unit is connected directly to detonator wires, external interferences such as static electricity, radio frequency, stray current and so on may directly affect the security of the detonator during production, storage and use.
Under traditional management system and technology, the traditional detonators can not be easily managed and controlled and sometimes be accessible to unauthorized persons. Lost detonators can definitely do harm to social security. Therefore, the management in China is made by coding and tagging the detonators on the shell. However, the physical process of tagging on the shell may reduce the safety of detonator production, and further, coding and tagging still cannot solve the controllability problem in detonator management.
To overcome defects mentioned above in traditional electric detonators, study of electronic detonators based on circuit technology and micro-electronics technology has been done since 1980's in Japan, Australia, Europe and some other developed countries or districts. The key design of the electronic detonator lies in an electronic detonator controller circuit board, which is connected between the detonator wires and the ignition unit to separate them and makes the detonation process controllable.
Great progress in the electronic detonator technology has been made with rapid development of electronic technology, micro-electronics technology, and information technology. Application experiment and market promotion of the electronic detonator have been conducted out since the late 1990s.